Embrace Your Empathy

Tag Archives: ev-front-page

Twin Cities Veg Fest: Past, Present, and Future

Compassionate Action for Animals recently hosted the fourth annual Twin Cities Veg Fest, and we’ve already begun planning for the next one. The festival continues to grow from year to year, and the momentum just keeps building.

Twin Cities Veg Fest is by far the biggest event that we produce, not only in terms of the thousands who attend, but also in terms of how much of our resources are devoted to making it a success. Here’s why we think it deserves all of that and more: In one day, Twin Cities Veg Fest reaches thousands of people with a message of compassion for farmed animals. Those who attend get to enjoy lots of eye-opening activities, including delicious vegan food, inspiring speaker presentations, and informative cooking demos.

This has been a landmark year for our CAA community and for our global movement. We hope you’ve been able to attend a few of our events over the past year, from the dine outs and potlucks to the Vegan Chili Cook-Off and Twin Cities Veg Fest. As you may have noticed, our community of animal advocates is growing.

This progress reflects a global shift toward a greater awareness of animal protection issues and an increase in plant-based food options; undercover investigations of animal agriculture are getting more exposure while restaurant chains and grocery stores are introducing more vegan food. Hooray!

Because of your generosity, the movement is thriving. We thank you for your past support and now look toward the future for animals. At CAA, we know that there is much more to be done to see that all animals get the justice they deserve. We are committed to this cause, but we cannot do our work without your continued financial support.

Our fourth annual Twin Cities Veg Fest happened just a couple days ago, and we’re still feeling the excitement. We hope you were able to join us for this event, which was our biggest one yet with an estimate of more than 2,500 attendees.

Check out the slideshow below to get an idea of what the festival included. It’s just a glimpse of the many exhibitors, vendors, sponsors, speakers, chefs, volunteers, and attendees who made this year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest truly amazing. All of us at Compassionate Action for Animals are grateful to everyone involved. Thank you!

It was a very successful event in that 540 attendees watched the video. One reason we were able to reach so many people was because volunteers had multiple tablets set up for viewing, and they were continuously in use.

In between viewings, we had many heartfelt conversations with viewers and other attendees who were curious or wanted to learn more about the disconnect between what happens on factory farms and industry’s heavily funded efforts to manipulate the public’s understanding of factory farming. Others were eager to share that they were vegetarian or vegan too. Some people simply thanked us for what we were doing.

It’s true! We’ve put together our very own magazine called Twin Cities Veg Living. We hope that this issue will be the first of many. If you haven’t seen the magazine yet, you can find it at our tabling events throughout the year or read it online as a downloadable PDF.

The magazine serves a couple different purposes. It’s a way for us to share who we are and what we do. You’ll find that our campaigns, programs, values, and mission are represented in its contents. Along with that, the magazine is a useful resource for those moving towards a plant-based diet. The contents include:

This past September, a group of us who are CAA volunteers and also students at the University of Minnesota started a campaign to get more meatless options in the University’s dining halls on Mondays. As the campaign coordinator, I’m reporting on the progress we’ve made toward reaching our goal.

Bringing the campaign to the University of Minnesota would have many benefits. Aside from this ultimate goal, the process of campaigning is also a powerful means of outreach. We are engaging students, faculty, alumni, University departments, student groups, and community members in a conversation about the effects of animals agriculture and the benefits of a Meatless Monday program.

We first set a goal of raising $7,500. Thanks to the generous contribution of an anonymous donor, that goal was matched 2-for-1, giving us a total of $22,500 to support our work. We made that goal with a few days to spare and then set an additional goal of $1,500, with another 2-for-1 match from another donor, giving us an additional $4,500. Thanks to the contributions of many supporters, we not only met both of these goals, but also surpassed them. Wow!

If you’re wondering what your donation will achieve, check out the image attached to this post. It offers a visual example of how these funds are allocated to support our outreach, education, and community building programs.

For every $10, 833 leaflets about factory farming and vegan resources are distributed to college students.

For every $25, 8 people see a 5-minute video that exposes factory farming.

Great news! Thanks to a generous outpouring of support, we’ve reached our first year-end goal of $7,500 along with an additional stretch goal of $1,500, all with time to spare. (Note that both of these goals were matched 2-for-1!)

Though we’ve reached our goal, the campaign isn’t over yet! If you’d still like to make a contribution, you have until midnight tonight. Give for Compassion today and help support our vital work speaking out for farmed animals.

There’s no time like the present to Give for Compassion! We reached our first year-end goal of $7,500 with a couple days to spare. Then, guess what happened! Another generous donor offered a $3,000 2-for-1 match if we can raise an additional $1,500. We have until Wednesday, December 31 at midnight to reach this new goal. That’s less than 48 hours! Give today and help support our vital work speaking out for farmed animals.

The range of our work can be seen in our year-in-review video slideshow. We hope you find these images inspiring and that they remind you of all the great times that we’ve had in the past year and all that’s possible in 2015 and beyond!

Help us raise $7,500 by December 31 at midnight to support our work helping farmed animals. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, your contributions will be matched 2-for-1. That means we can raise an additional $15,000 to help farmed animals. Donate today!

We hope you’ve been able to attend some of our events in the past year. From the dine outs and potlucks to Their Lives, Our Voices and Twin Cities Veg Fest, it’s clear that our community is thriving. Now, we must continue serving as a vital resource for those who want to help farmed animals. Among our goals for the next year is to support the growth of Twin Cities Veg Fest. First and foremost, we want to find a larger venue for the popular festival. For these increased expenses, we are seeking your support.